Happy Labour* Day!

I saw a post pop up in my Google Reader by Jessica over at Classy in Philadelphia... an homage to Labour Day of sorts... although she spelled it Labor Day... but she is in Philiadelphia after all and the Americans don't seem to have the same love for the letter "u" like us Canadians do...

So... without further ado... my labour history (and I am talking employment here since I have never been in the birthing kind of labour - but if you want stories on that I suggest checking out Dooce)...

Babysitting - I didn't babysit much - maybe because we moved... maybe because I don't really like kids... or maybe because one of my first experiences was with a family in my apartment building - they had a little guy who was usually asleep when I got there... but did that mean that the dad had to pay me TO THE PENNY? Seriously, when they got home, the dad would haul out the calculator and figure out my hourly rate TO THE PENNY. I mean - I probably only charged $2.50 an hour or something... but he would literally send me home with like $6.43. Cheapie, cheapie!

Page - this is a fancy name for the kid that returns all the library books to the shelves. Sometimes in order, sometimes not. Yes - it was all my fault if you couldn't find what you were looking for but it was a freaking boring job!

Cashier/Clothes sorter - I worked for a couple of years at a thrift store... I got the goods before they went on the floor... until they instituted the 24-hour rule. Then I hid the stuff so nobody would find it so I could buy it. Sue me.

Sandwich artists - this is by far was my most hated job. Have you ever come home smelling like Subway? Well, I have and it ain't pretty.

Student Employment Officer - this was my one crack at being a government lackey. I think I did a good job. At being a lackey that is. And getting my picture in the paper.

Fitness Centre Assistant - I washed towels and squash goggles. And did homework.

Orientation Coordinator - this is where I found out that I am too organized. Am I the only person in the world that doesn't stress over planning an event for over 400 people?

Holy crap... I have had a lot of jobs... granted... I am like 100 years old... but still... I have never been fired either... and only quit with no notice once... and have taken a buy-out once. Pay me to leave? Hells ya!

And then I graduated University... and since then I have only ever worked in post-secondary. I guess I liked University so much that I wanted to keep going back EVERY SINGLE DAY...

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i was also a library page ... it was my high school job. call me a nerd, but i kind of loved it ... the order of it all and the quiet. but my favourite part was working in the children's department ... the librarians there had been the same ones who encouraged me to read when i was a kid, so it was a happy place for me. in 12th grade i was "promoted" to tech services, which was in the basement and involved digging around in the archives. i am so cool. ;)

Burger King - Burger assembler. I hated the job and it made me gain weight.

Co-op Apartment Maintenance - I cleaned up the apartment communal areas, etc. I lasted about 2 weeks before they told me to "do it faster" and I quit.

Envelope Stuffer - I stuffed envelopes for an old lady who ran a car appraisal business. I made 6 bucks per 100 or something like that.

Mail Room Envelope stuffer - Same as above, but I worked in a mail room and supervised a bitch of a machine that did the stuffing for you. It would have been easier to do it by hand.

Long Distance Directory Assistance Phone Operator - I answered calls for people looking for numbers in towns in Tennessee called "Flagina" (or something like that). I made my base wage plus 5 cents per call. This of course didn't improve quality, because I figured out the faster I got people off the line, the more money I made.

Unemployed - I didn't have a job for about a year. I had enough cash to get by, so I didn't care and moved to Canada.

Lab Monitor - At MRC(U) I worked as a lab monitor in the computer science labs. This involved me surfing the net and doing nothing (a common thread since then). I sometimes answered questions and rolled my eyes a lot.

START student - I worked as a START (Students something something something something) and worked on the help desk for a short time and then labs for the rest of my time there. More eye rolling. Students are manipulative shits.

Baker/Supervisor/Gas Jockey - At the gas station that was also a bakery I supervised other employees, locked the doors at night, counted smokes, baked bread, made muffins and pinned shoplifters to the ground. This was the first pay check I ever had that was over $1000. It was also VERY hard work. I enjoyed the baking portion of it though.

Report Writer - For my first DFS at MRC(U) I worked in the registrars office as a report writer. It was cool and I got to do things I had never done before. I quickly learned that given a computer related task, I can find a generally good way to solve it.

Consultant - My second DFS was at my current employer. I have been there 6 years now. I have done so many things that it amazes me where I have come from and where I am now. I found an old note book from my first week there, and reading it I thought I was such a dumb ass. Crazy what you learn...